


Mamma's Gonna Keep You Right Here, Under Her Wing

by perrywings



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Adopted Children, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cabins, Gen, Hera Does The Right Thing, Hera says pay your child support, Hestia Appreciation, Kinda, Parent-Child Relationship, parenting, sorta - Freeform, why is that not a tag?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:34:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25614391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perrywings/pseuds/perrywings
Summary: This is more or less a reimagining of what Hera would be like/do in an alternate universe where she wasn’t as much of a terrible person as she was both historically and in the Riordan Universe, and instead was a goddess of marriage, family, and motherhood that actually acted on those roles.
Relationships: Demigods & Hera (Percy Jackson), Hera & Hades, Hera & Hestia, Hera & Olympian Gods
Comments: 8
Kudos: 43





	Mamma's Gonna Keep You Right Here, Under Her Wing

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly guys gals non-binary pals, I have no idea where this came from or how, I'm currently deep within my Hamilton obsession, but I guess somehow one mere thought of a Camp Half-Blood AU led to "what if in an alternate universe Hera being the goddess of motherhood, marriage, and family weren't just titles?", I don't know, the mind's a strange place, and mine especially.
> 
> Title taken from a lyric from Mother by Pink Floyd, which was a semi-ironic choice, considering the song's actually about a bad/over-protective mother, and according to Greek myth Hera was actually a terrible mother tbh, but here she's better. But I also liked the wing mention because if I remember correctly one of Hera's symbols is a peacock.
> 
> Anyway, if you read this and get inspired by it or want to use this idea or a similar one in your AU (which I doubt but just in case), reach out to me here on AO3 or on my tumblr (tripsonflatground) when your work's posted so I can read it.
> 
> Well, that's all, hope you enjoy!

In an alternate universe where Hera took her appointment as the goddess of marriage, family, and motherhood seriously, Hera looked at the camp and saw children instead of soldiers and felt pity.

These were the tragically-fated offspring of one-night-stands at best and mutual adultery at worst, but these kids never asked to be born, and they bore more consequences than either parent. The path of a demigod was full of trials, often lonely, and much, much shorter than the average person’s. While she disapproved of the actions of demigods’ parents, she had a greater distaste for the deaths of children. Demigods did not deserve to suffer or die for the sins of their parents.

In an alternate universe where Hera did her duties as the goddess of marriage, family, and motherhood fully and proudly, she took a long look at the sadly large amount of demigod children whose godly parent either refused to acknowledge and thus provide for them or whose godly parent was far down the pantheon food chain and did not have a cabin allotted to them or any other real resources to provide for their kids. She took a long look and decided that no, these children were not going to be abandoned to fend for themselves. Camp Half-Blood had built a cabin in her honor, and though Hera was not planning on filling it with any blood-related children, there were plenty of campers who would benefit from not being forgotten in Hermes’ already cramped cabin. And so Hera sent Hermes a message and then descended into the mortal world, into Camp Half-Blood, and without even stopping (or stooping) to inform Chiron, she rounded up the unclaimed and the children of minor gods and told them in no uncertain terms that they’d be moving into Cabin 2, her cabin, Hera’s Cabin. At first, they thought it was a prank, but complied easily enough when they understood it was real.

Zeus complained at first when he learned what she’d done, but she informed him that it was her cabin and she would decide how it was going to be used, and no one else. He dropped it after that, and after a few threats that, if acted upon, would make his marriage very uncomfortable.

This action of Hera’s had the unintended benefit of getting the loyalty or at least gratitude of many of the minor gods, most of which assured her they intended to repay the favor. However, this same consequence led to more demigods of minor gods finding their way to Camp Half-Blood, encouraged by the belief that they had somewhere they belonged, even if they wouldn’t be in their own parents’ cabin. While this led to fewer demigod deaths, the issue of overcrowding became relevant again.

Hera’s initial solution was to find a way to provide more space. There was no way Zeus would be open to helping, not genuinely, and he occasionally housed the results of his betrayals of her. Instead, she went to someone who would be dedicated to creating a good home: Hestia. And Hera said she would get Hestia a cabin (and the recognition and sacrifices and prayers that came with it) if she would be willing to house some of Hera’s wayward demigod children in the said cabin. As it turned out, Hestia had become a big fan of Hera’s work with the minor and unclaimed demigods, and was all too happy to become part of said project and help give demigods a home. Zeus complained, but Hera reminded them that Hestia was their sister and the eldest, even though the Olympian High Council tended to treat her like the baby of the family, and Chiron backed Hera up, and when the rest of the High Council did some mental math on whether they hated Zeus or Hera less, most chose Hera. But in the end, Hestia got her cabin, and once again, Hera appeared in Camp Half-Blood, this time with Hestia, and the two created Cabin 13, Hestia’s Cabin, another home for those who didn’t have one dedicated to their parents. It was an imperfect system, but in general, Hestia’s cabin had the boys, and Hera’s cabin had the girls, since Hestia didn’t have a preference for who she would welcome, but admittedly, as a goddess of motherhood specifically, Hera was far more comfortable with the girls (not that she didn’t have a soft spot for the boys she had taken under her wing).

Hera may have gone to Hestia, but it was Hades who came to Hera. He had a simple bargain: get him a cabin just for the children of Hades (and Thanatos, if he must), and he would allow Hera access to certain resources he had that would track down the parents of the unclaimed so she could force them to take responsibility and claim their children. While Hera wasn’t Hades’ biggest fan (nor him hers, likely), it was the fact that her unclaimed demigods deserved better that made her agree. It was much more difficult to get Hades a cabin than Hestia, but Hera persisted, and Hades must have had favors to call in, because soon there was Cabin 14, Hades’ Cabin, and a few of the demigods in Hera’s and Hestia’s cabins had gone to reside in it. And the day the cabin was completed, Hera had Hades’ resources at her disposal, from hell-hounds to the Furies. Persephone even offered to pass along any useful information from the plants after she learned what Hera was using the resources to do.

The biggest surprise was when Nemesis showed up one dark, moonless evening, offering her services in vengeance of children who had died not knowing their parents and children currently sitting in Hera’s or Hestia’s cabin not knowing what their own blood was.

And so as Hera and her allies wreaked havoc in the pantheon, the numbers of unclaimed children grew less and less as their parents revealed their heritage. Most were those of minor gods, ones who hadn’t thought a claiming would matter much because they themselves had comparably little power, but the children benefited from knowing their identity and from having more tailored training for their powers, allowing them to become stronger and more confident. Some were from more well-known gods and even the Olympian High Council, and they weaseled and dodged and claimed a faulty memory when Hera confronted them about not acknowledging their children.

But soon, the only unclaimed children were new arrivals, and they were usually claimed within their first week of camp. Regardless, demigods learned there was always a place for them at Camp Half-Blood, even if it wasn’t tailored specifically for them. Hera kept an eye on her cabin and Hestia’s cabin, and though she wasn’t often in direct contact with them, she made sure they had what they needed, always answered prayers (even if she couldn’t help them, she’d acknowledge them), and responded to sacrifices with little gifts and rewards. Hestia split her time between Olympus and Earth fairly evenly, and although she was always in disguise in camp, her cabin residents figured out how to recognize her. And although Hestia gave most of herself to those that lived in her cabin, she was always willing to help Hera’s tenants and any other camper who approached her, no matter the parentage. Word eventually got around through the campers that if you needed help or a place to be safe, you went to Hera or Hestia.

Hera was a queen, a goddess, but most importantly, a mother, and so she would be a mother to those who couldn’t rely on theirs.

In an alternate universe, Hera looked at the demigods of Camp Half-Blood and saw her adopted children, not pawns, or soldiers, or mistakes.


End file.
